Get to know the Pantanal of Mato Grosso

With an area of 160,000 km², Pantanal is considered the largest wetland on the planet. It is mainly located in the Brazilian territory in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, having 15,000 km² of its area situated also in Bolivia and 5,000 km² in Paraguay. To the North of Pantanal, we find the Amazon rainforest, and to the west, the Andes Mountain Range. The climate in this biome is characterised as hot with a dry season that extends from May to September and a rainy season in the rest of the year¹. According to Junk et al. (2005)¹, Pantanal was established in a circumglobal belt of climatic instability and this weather conformation drives extreme events of flooding and droughts combined with extensive wildfires that threatens the fauna and the flora of the biome.

Concerning to the biodiversity in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, records list a total 2,241 plant species, 816 aquatic invertebrates, 263 fish species, 96 species of reptiles, 40 amphibian species, 390 bird species and 130 species of mammals¹. Among these, the Jabiru stork is highlighted for being the largest flying bird in this biome and it is considered the symbol of the Pantanal in Brazil. This biome is also considered a sanctuary for the hyacinth macaw, the capybara, the jaguar and the giant river otter – top predators of the ecosystem –, which are all well adapted to the changing environmental conditions of this big wetland.

The 2020 Pantanal Fire Event

Aiming for a better management and environmental protection, in 1998, the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE²) started a monitoring program to verify and record fires in the country. Last year (2019), in the Pantanal region, the INPE recorded 3,165 hotspots between January and August, corresponding almost entirely to dry season of the biome. As alarming this number might be to you, the scenario this year was not any better. The records of the same period for year 2020 showed that over 10,000 hotspots were recorded in Pantanal, which has led to the biggest fire event ever recorded for this area.

So far, the fire has burned over 15% of Pantanal’s total area. Even though natural fire events are common in the region during its dry season, increasing deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest and in Pantanal has been affecting the movement of the flying rivers and, hence, the rain patterns in seasonality and magnitude. Lower precipitation rates impact the water level in the wetland – as the biome faces the worst drought in 47 years –, leading to exposure of areas and vegetation that typically would be underwater, even during the dry season. As temperatures are high and the vegetation becomes exposed and dry, even small fires can thrive and ultimately develop into major fire events that are difficult to control and predict, e.g. peat fires.

According to the Integrated Multiagency of Operational Coordination Centre of Mato Grosso (CIMAN-MT), the fires of this year were caused by the anthropogenic interferences to prepare pasture lands for livestock, burning trees to acquire honey, and one accidental fire caused by an agricultural equipment. Nevertheless, even though the causes were discovered, the fire remains bringing destruction to the biome, great loss of biodiversity and seed banks, burning plants and trees, killing the animals and summing up to the global carbon emissions. Every action against the environment is a step closer to 1.5°C higher of the global warming.

Red List Assessment for notable species in the area

Pantanal has the largest concentration of jaguars in the world. Having a look at the UCN Red List assessments (2020) for some animal species that have the wetland as a sanctuary, it is noted that the jaguar is classified as “Near threatened” and its population trend is decreasing, according to the assessment dated in 2016. In regards to the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), assessed in 2014, the report categorizes it as an endangered species. Concerning the hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), that was last assessed in the Red List in 2016, the status is as a vulnerable species, with a number of 4,300 of mature individuals worldwide, presenting a decreasing trend on its population. On the other hand, the Jabiru stork (Jabiru mycteria) is classified as of least concern, having a range of 6,700 to 17,000 mature individuals; and the same classification goes for the rodent capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris).

Click here to go the UCN Red List so you can check the status of other species too!

Know how to help

The NGO WWF-Brasil is one of the many organisations that are fighting to revert this tragedy in Pantanal. If you want to know how to HELP, click HERE!

Get to know more about the Pantanal and check the biodiversity photo gallery here!

References

¹ Junk et al. (2005)

² INPE (2020)

The post SOS Pantanal: The fire that ravages the world’s largest wetland appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Two seconds

Three seconds

Four seconds

Five seconds

Every minute, forest areas of the size of 50 soccer fields are lost.
Every minute, every day.

Today, March 21st 2018, we celebrate the International Day of Forests. Ever since 2013, this date calls for global awareness on the degrading state of forests worldwide. It takes only one day in our calendars for us to remember how dependent mankind’s survival is on the  lungs of the planet.

With the current rate of deforestation, there will be no forests left within the next 100 years. The loss, degradation and conversion of forests threaten our survival.

“We are on the verge of destroying the perfect balance that nature has created for the wellbeing of human beings. Halting deforestation is not about saving the planet , it’s about ensuring the human well-being. The Earth will survive us and has done so for 4.5 billion years, she is much older and wiser.“
– Christiana Figueres (Former UNFCC Executive Secretary, 2018)

Certainly, once forests or green shelters and sources of life are lost, services and goods provided by nature also disappear. The maintenance of human well-being is then a question of time: how long can we survive with a degrading nature around us? Certain regions of the world already know the devastating answer.

Photos by Carla Madueño

We can stop thinking drama, and start thinking solutions

Today, we must talk about hope and urgency put into action. And there are certain actors and voices out there that I would like to remind you of today: Youth.

On the international day of forests, I want to send a big call to Youth around the globe teaching us every day how to stand on our young feet for a forest-friendly society.

• Youth teaches us that warriors can all have all ages, since what really matters is the strength of the own conviction.
• Youth teaches us that they are real cultural and intergenerational bridges that catalyze people’s fears and challenges.
• Youth teaches us that inclusive dialogue and participation is possible and necessary.
• And among all, youth helps people recover relations with the forests.

Youth is key in healing a broken world, through intergenerational reconciliation.

If you don’t believe youth can be an empowering and strong ally to protect forests, here are some examples:

Planting trees with only 9 years old: Back in 2007, a 9-year old German boy Felix Finkbeiner inspired by a school assignment imagined children planting 1 million trees in every country on Earth. His movement spreaded quickly throughout Germany and the Globe and by 2011 achieved with the help of other children planting a total of 1 million trees around the world.

Two sisters from Bali banned plastic from entire island: The Wijsen sisters from Bali are the living example that empowered and determined youth can solve the plastic pollution challenge. The young sisters, Melati and Isabel, successfully campaigned 4 years to get plastic bags banned from the Bali island. Indonesia is the 2nd largest plastic polluter in the world, after China.

“If we could meet with world leaders and speak to them, we would tell them to listen more to the youth, consider us as more than just inspiration. We have bright innovative ideas of how to deal with some of the greatest issues of our time”
– Wijsen sisters

Leave the smartphone, reconnect with your closest forest

May our decisions enlighten not a brighter future, but a greener present. Science and politics talk about changes to be carried out by 2030, 2050 or next millenia to protect forests. I believe that we simply cannot wait for decades to solve our greatest challenges.

On March 21st 2018, we stand for a change – now and not tomorrow.

Today, take a moment off, go to the closest forest or green space in your city, your village or town. Think about the impacts of your lifestyle, reconnect with nature, discover life beyond human beings and beyond the concrete jungle.

Meditate on the lives on the other side of the smartphone. Celebrate the hidden, still unknown and sheltered life in our green forests (and outside the scope of the International Day of Forest, celebrate also life in our blue oceans).

Stop thinking drama,
Start thinking solutions,
Stand up for forest protection
Empower Youth as forest warriors.

The post A youth pledge on forest’s day appeared first on Global Change Ecology.